


Happy Birthday!

by Ally_Oop



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Banter, Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Caring Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Caring Merlin (Merlin), Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, POV Merlin (Merlin), Some Humor, Some Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23905669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ally_Oop/pseuds/Ally_Oop
Summary: Since Arthur’s father passed on his birthday, Arthur has been uncomfortable with celebrating any and all birthdays. Will Merlin’s be any different?
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 216





	Happy Birthday!

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

Merlin yelped and made a frantic attempt to stand but instead fell out of his bed, blanket twisted around his body and over his head, rendering him unable to see and quite startled. He immediately felt a set of hands on his shoulders, trying to help him but only succeeding in making things quite a bit harder than they needed to be. He finally scrambled to his feet and the blanket was lifted from atop his head, revealing a very apologetic Guinevere. 

“Sorry,” She said, doing her best to brush the dust off of his shoulders and disguise her laughter, which was threatening to escape with every slight curl of her lip. “I didn’t think you’d jump like that.”

“S’alright.” Merlin assured her, trying to let his brain catch up with reality. Sleepiness still fogged his mind, and he set about re-making his bed as Gwen watched with a combination of guilt and pure amusement. Gaius waved from the doorway, his expression that of an exasperated grandfather.

“Good morning, Merlin. Happy birthday!”

“Surprised anyone remembered,” Merlin straightened up, smoothed out his sheets, and turned to face the old man with a grin. “ESPECIALLY you.”

“Of course I remembered. How could I forget, when you’ve used your upcoming birthday as an excuse to slack off every chance you got this past week.”

“That’s fair.”

“And, just so we are perfectly clear,” Gaius said, shooting a disapproving look at Gwen. “I didn’t know she intended on screaming like that.”

Gwen offered him a truly angelic smile before turning to Merlin and holding out a hand.

“Before you have to go,” Gwen said, producing a package from behind her back. “I’ve brought you something.” It was a small lumpy object wrapped in brown paper, with a little flower drawn carefully on the outside of it.

“I tried to dress it up as best I could.” Gwen said sheepishly. She presented the package to him and smiled, bouncing slightly on her heels with excitement. 

“It’s beautiful, thank you.” Merlin smiled back and gave her a one-armed hug. “You really didn’t have to get me anything!” 

“Oh, but I wanted to! Open it!” She stepped back and clasped her hands in front of her, beaming.

Merlin careful peeled back the brown paper and revealed a small blue bird made of glass. He ran a finger over the pattern of its feathers carefully, admiring it. It was incredibly detailed, with little feathers and intentional imperfections in the pattern crafted as delicately as the rest of it, making it seem less like a statue and more like a real bird that had been turned to glass. It was a stunning little dilemma; as fragile as it was beautiful. Its beak was open wide in an eternal song, and a small iridescent sphere was placed within it.

“Do you like it?” Gwen asked hesitantly. Merlin nodded, and gave her a proper two-armed hug this time. 

“I love it. He can live right up here,” Merlin said, carefully setting the bird up on his window sill. The sunlight hit the sphere in the bird’s mouth and turned his entire room a soft shade of light blue, with the early morning sun refracting through the bird’s body and leaving his room glowing with little rainbows at the edge of every beam of light. Gwen’s eyes widened.

“I didn’t know it did that,” she breathed, looking over at Merlin excitedly.

Merlin barely heard her for how transfixed he was with the glowing bird. It was breathtaking, and the idea that his room would look like this every single morning filled him with such a sense of peace that he felt like he was floating. It would be nice, Merlin thought with a smile. Every morning he would wake up to a world of soft blue light and serenity, and he could remain in that light until he absolutely had to leave. It was a massively comforting thought.

“It certainly brightens things up in here,” he said once he managed to tear his eyes away. “Thank you so much, Gwen, it’s lovely.” 

“Of course! And before you go, again, I just wanted to warn you,” she said, smile fading slightly. “Arthur hasn’t said anything, so I don’t think he knows.”

“I expected as much,” Merlin shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, it’s alright.”

Gwen, looking for all the world like somebody who was very worried about it, nodded, and stepped out of his way as he thanked her one last time and made for the kitchens and then Arthur’s chambers. 

The kitchen staff and nearly half the servants he passed in the hallways greeted him by name and wished him a happy birthday, earning themselves increasingly awkward smiles and clumsily phrased expressions of thanks. Merlin hadn’t been aware how many people knew; he supposed it was Gwen’s doing but couldn’t be entirely sure due to the fact that he had, admittedly, mentioned his birthday quite a lot in weeks prior.

He reached Arthur’s chambers and paused outside the door briefly, feeling a small pang of dread. Arthur couldn’t have known; Merlin hadn’t said anything about his birthday to him since the first year they’d known each other, which at the time had been aggressively dismissed and accompanied by a barrage of insults. However, things had changed a lot since then, the most major of which being that Arthur was the king. 

Which brought up another point: birthdays were a very sensitive subject for Arthur. His own was the shared anniversary of both his parents’ deaths; it was understandable why he didn’t enjoy them, and it was because of this that Merlin was careful to never bring up his or anyone else’s in Arthur’s presence, so as to avoid upsetting him. Arthur hadn’t celebrated a single birthday since the death of his father; he always grew quiet and seemed to shut down whenever the topic of Uther or anything birthday related came up. Merlin knew this, telling himself that even if Arthur had forgotten, it was okay. With all of the weight behind the concept of a birthday in Arthur’s case, he could hardly be blamed for not making them a priority. 

Merlin sighed, cursing under his breath. He was being selfish, he decided. Arthur had such horrible memories associated with birthdays in general that it was unfair of Merlin to even hope that his would be an exception. Still, he couldn’t help but feel preemptively disappointed at the notion that he hadn’t even remembered.

He sighed again. If Arthur didn’t remember, he didn’t remember. Merlin wondered briefly why he even cared. He hadn’t last year, or the year before.

Merlin eased the door open and crossed the room, carefully lowering Arthur’s breakfast onto the table before whisking the curtains open and blinking in the sudden brightness.

“Rise and shine!” He called out cheerily.

Sunlight flooded the room, and he heard a muffled groan from somewhere within the bed. A tousled head of blonde hair poked out from beneath the blankets and into the sun, revealing a very disoriented Arthur.

“-breakfast?” Merlin heard Arthur mumble sleepily.

“It’s on the table already.” He said, coming to stand by the bed and beginning the task of hauling Arthur to his feet. Arthur was more awake than usual at this hour, and was much less resistant while Merlin helped him get dressed and ready to go, a fact Merlin was incredibly grateful for. Mornings were usually a nightmare. He milled about the room to collect things to wash as Arthur began to eat.

He tried not to think about how it had been a few minutes and Arthur still hadn’t said anything. Gwen had even warned him, and despite his conscience chastising him silently, he still found himself with a sinking feeling of disappointment.

“It’s a very special day today.” Arthur remarked casually after he’d cleaned his plate. Merlin froze. Arthur raised his eyebrows, expression unreadable.

“What do you mean?” Merlin asked, fighting to keep his voice aloof and noncommittal. He didn’t dare to hope yet.

“It’s a special day,” Arthur said, rising to his feet and giving Merlin a nasty smile. “Because you get the honor of mucking out the stables this morning.”

Merlin deflated slightly. “Right. Got it.”

Arthur suddenly frowned, noticing the change of tone in his voice. “I was only joking, Merlin.”

Merlin offered a painfully fake smile, prompting a long sigh and a calculating look from Arthur.

“I was planning to let this go on for a bit longer,” Arthur finally said, crossing the room and pausing at his bedside table. “But you’re really beginning to depress me with all of your moping.”

Arthur looked over his shoulder and grinned, prompting an extremely suspicious look from Merlin.

After a second or two of rummaging around, Arthur retrieved a small cloth pouch tied up with string and tossed it to Merlin, who just barely caught it. 

His eyes widened, and he allowed a tentative smile to creep onto his face, earning himself an eye roll and a scoff in return.

“I’m not an idiot, Merlin,” Arthur said, exasperated. “I know what day it is.” 

Despite his tone, he was smiling.

Merlin eyed the pouch with mock-suspicion, and shook it around a bit. He poked it, held it up to the light and squinted at it, sniffed it, tossed it from hand to hand.

“For God’s sake, Merlin, it’s just a present. Open it.”

Merlin shot him one last disbelieving look before carefully untying the string and easing the pouch open. He took out its contents and held it up, allowing a smile to fully form on his face when he realized what it was. It was a thin leather bracelet, bearing a smooth white stone not unlike the one within the beak of the glass bird Gwen had given him. He tilted the bracelet back and forth, watching the iridescent colors within the stone shift.

“Thank you.” He said, beaming up at Arthur.

Arthur waved a hand dismissively.  
“It’s the least I could do.” 

Arthur paused for a moment, and his eyes softened slightly. He sighed.

“I was going to throw you a banquet, you know.” He said after a moment. “Something more than a silly bracelet. But-“

His voice faded, and he hesitated a moment, appearing to collect himself. When he spoke again, his voice was heavy.

“I don’t particularly enjoy birthdays.”

Merlin nodded, understanding the weight behind that statement.

“It’s alright. Honest.” Merlin reassured him. 

“I take it you understand why?” Arthur asked, his voice as soft as Merlin had ever heard it. 

Merlin nodded, and Arthur tightened his mouth into a thin line.

There was a moment of silence, and Merlin took the time to fasten the bracelet around his wrist. He looked back at Arthur, who had his eyes fixed to the floor and a troubled expression on his face. His blue eyes were swimming with emotion and there was a thin line between his eyebrows that betrayed that he was deep in thought. In this state, with the sunlight’s soft touch coaxing his eyes to become like misty stars, the generally well put together appearance combined with the tousled hair and conflicted face, and the white knuckled grip he had on the back of the chair in front of him, Arthur reminded Merlin painfully of the glass bird. As fragile as he was beautiful.

The toll the past had taken on him showed only every once in awhile, startling in its subtlety.

Feeling the sudden need to lighten the mood, Merlin fixed Arthur with another overly suspicious look.

“Hang on, how did you even know it was my birthday? I haven’t mentioned it in years.”

Arthur shrugged, the sudden twinkle in his eyes betraying his gratitude for the change in subject.

“I asked Gwen. Or rather, she mentioned it once and then I forgot and had to ask again.” 

“You cared enough to ask again?”

“Twice, actually. My memory isn’t quite what it used to be.”

“Well, it was never that good to begin with.” Merlin pointed out. Arthur glared, but there was no malice behind it.

“I wanted to do something the last few years, you know,” Arthur admitted after a moment. He fixed Merlin with an apologetic look that slowly morphed into a smirk. “But the mere idea of doing something nice for you was so unbearable that it took me all these years just to stomach it.”

“I was wondering when you’d start acting like an ass again.” Merlin remarked, grinning. 

“I’ve been wondering when you’ll start acting like a proper servant again,” Arthur said airily. “I’ve yet to see that one.”

“Your use of the word ‘again’ implies I was ever a proper servant,” Merlin pointed out.

“Your use of the word ‘ass’ implies you’ve forgotten who you’re talking to.”

“I know who I’m talking to.”

“Good.”

“I’m talking to an ass.”

To Merlin’s surprise, Arthur nearly laughed out loud. He coughed, pretending it hadn’t happened, and hardened his face into his patented “I Am The King And Therefore Emotion Is Illegal” stoicism. 

“Don’t get used to the gifts, of course.” Arthur warned. “I expect you back to work as usual tomorrow.”

“So cruel.” Merlin remarked, shaking his head in mock disapproval. 

“For every one of your little retorts, I’m adding 10 chores to tomorrow’s list.”

“Only 10? I’m afraid you’ve grown soft, sire.”

“Shall I make it 10 days in the dungeons?”

“Ah, there’s the Arthur I know.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. You’re dismissed for the day.”

Merlin extended his arms and grinned.

“How about a hug?”

“Happy birthday. Get out.”

“Right, got it.”

Merlin left, smiling to himself. Arthur had allowed him a brief glimpse of vulnerability, something that was far more valuable than any birthday gift he could’ve asked for. Although, admittedly, he did love the bracelet.

On his way back to his chambers, Merlin nearly ran directly into Gwen, who was carrying a basket stacked so high with clothes that he could barely see her around it.

“Hello, Merlin!” She stopped and leaned the basket against her hip, smiling warily. “How bad was it?”

“You can drop the act, Gwen. He’s already given me my gift.” Merlin laughed and showed her the bracelet on his wrist. 

At this, her eyebrows shot up, and then furrowed in confusion. 

“Excuse me?”

“You were the one that reminded Arthur of my birthday, he told me himself. You’re a much better liar than I thought, to be perfectly honest. I didn’t suspect for a second.”

“Merlin,” Gwen said with a knowing smile slowly stretching across her face. “I never reminded him.” 

Merlin‘s eyebrows shot up and he opened his mouth to speak, but ultimately found himself without anything to say. At this, Gwen chuckled and shifted her grip on the basket, preparing to leave.

“Give him some more credit, Merlin.” Gwen said gently, giving him a bright smile before heading on her way.

Merlin stood frozen in place, shell shocked and unable to believe his ears. He brought a hand to the stone on his wrist and ran a finger along the braided pattern of the leather. Arthur had cared enough to remember, after all those years. Merlin made his way back to his chambers as if in a trance, still processing. When he stepped through the door, Gaius looked up from the table, where he’d been pouring over a thick leather bound book.

“How did it go?” He asked easily, shutting the book. The pages sent out a huge puff of dust when they collided, sending Gaius into a coughing fit. When he recovered, he looked at Merlin expectantly.

“Well?”

Merlin smiled and sank into the chair across from him.

“Best birthday I’ve ever had.”

**Author's Note:**

> I threw this together today because it’s actually MY BIRTHDAY!!!! If you don’t care about my personal life you can skip this next bit, thank you for reading 💕
> 
> I kind of sympathized with Arthur in the sense that birthdays aren’t always the greatest thing for me, (Don’t worry, this year things are working out!) and I thought I’d focus a little bit more on the fact that both of Arthur’s parents passed on his birthday, which is just horrible and I felt like it needed some more attention. Despite that tiny bit of angst, I made it as fluffy and cutesy as I could! 
> 
> I really really really hope you enjoyed; you've all been so nice to me and have said such sweet things in the comments on my other fics and I love everyone on here so much. I wanted to share my birthday with you all in the only way I know how; a merthur fic lmao
> 
> Thank you so much for reading 💕


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